NFL Draft's Huge TV Ratings Remind Us Football Is Still King In America

Cork Gaines, provided by

Published 10:42 am, Friday, May 9, 2014

The first round of the NFL Draft posted a huge 6.8 overnight rating on ESPN, the highest rating ever for the draft.

A 6.8 rating translates to an average of 7.9 million households throughout the night.

To get a better sense of how big a 6.8 rating, consider this:

The actual number of people who watched was even higher as the draft was also broadcast on the NFL Network.

The draft went head-to-head with a Miami Heat playoff game.

In last year's NBA playoffs, there were 78 games prior to the Finals. Only one game, game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals (Heat-Pacers), posted a better rating (7.1) than last night's draft.

Those 78 games had an average rating of 2.7.

In last year's Major League Baseball playoffs, there were 32 games prior to the World Series. The highest-rated game was game six of the American League Championship Series (Red Sox-Tigers) which posted a 5.5 rating.

Those 32 games averaged a 3.0 rating.

The good news for the other leagues is that the NBA Finals (10.4 average rating over 7 games) and the World Series (9.0 average rating over 6 games) still draw more people to the television than the NFL Draft.